Introduction and objective:
Exercise during study at university improves both academic performance and quality of life. Good physical health, improved self-esteem and social life are all benefits. Students often sit for long periods due to academic activities, studying, and computer use. This can have implications for physical and mental health The aim of this study is to compare how much students in Poland, Lithuania and Portugal understand about the prevention of back pain, body posture, and leisure activities.

Material and methods:
A total of 486 students from Poland, Lithuania and Portugal completed the survey using an online questionnaire. The survey was addressed to students in a selection of health science degree programmes: Physiotherapy (263), Nursing (134) and Occupational therapy (89). Chi-squared tests and the contingency coefficient were performed to determine whether there were significant differences in the mean scores of physiotherapy, occupational therapy and nursing students

Results:
The results of the chi-square test, which is statistically associated with the interconnectedness due to viral spread, identified the defect as correct (p = 0.00). The survey shows that 58.14% of respondents experiencing pain were active, while 41.86% described themselves as physically inactive but suffering from pain. Physiotherapy students spent the most time on activity (58.94%), while nursing students (39.55%) and occupational therapy students (33.71%) spent the least time on activity.

Conclusions:
The importance of education in promoting a healthy lifestyle among university students is both evident and necessary. The sample comprised only a half of the health science students, which limited generalisations. It is recommended that future research should be conducted on a larger group of people.